A veteran scout insists that the Reds need to demote Chapman and make him a starter, but pitching coach Bryan Price isn’t so sure that a demotion is the way to go. He points out that Sandy Koufax and Randy Johnson took time to develop. “Both struggled with command until they got enough work to figure out how their body works, how to put their hand in the right position to throw quality strikes,” Price said.

Well, it’s very unlikely…
But, Chipper will possibly be gone after this year, and Lowe only has one more year after this year. (And they have lots of young pitchers, so they’ll fill his spot internally)
So, if the Braves know Chipper’s retiring, they could go after Reyes for the long term.
And I’m sure they could get him as a rental.

Johnson and Koufax are 2 out of 1,000 flamethrowers that have hit the majors the past 5 decades, Bryan. For Chapman to have inflammation at his age means he needs to consider working on his finesse instead of hitting 3 digits on the radar gun every day. He’s going to blow his arm out like many before him.

That’s exactly what I was thinking. I hate the ridiculous arguments that start with: “Well, so and so did it…” Jesus cured leprosy. I’m a skinny Christian too, so all I have to do is learn how to harness my abilities…

I’m not sure Rosenthal is right. Prado can lead and carry the team in the leadoff spot, we are a much better team when he is in that spot and getting hits. Heyward hasn’t been hitting this year so it seems like there is an issue at the top of the lineup, but when Prado and Heyward are on they are a great 1-2 punch. The Braves aren’t going to be stealing bases anyways, which is the only advantage I see of adding Reyes. Plus everyone in the organization is happy with what Alex Gonzalez adds to the team.

Prado is not a leadoff hitter, plain and simple. I keep hoping Fredi would stick Nate at the top, just so Prado won’t be there. He’s 1-for-5 in stolen bases (admittedly a few were from botched hit-and-runs), so the speed isn’t even really there. Jose Reyes probably won’t be a target, as A Gon is doing just fine for very cheap.

Lineup structure isn’t all that important anyway. I couldn’t care less about the batting order, but the Braves could certainly use an impact bat with speed…….With the pitching surplus, I’m almost positive the Braves will acquire a useful position player at some point.

Because people overvalue the stolen base and undervalue the double, which is obviously absurd. With that being said, Prado is not an ideal #1 hitter only due in part to being an extremely ideal #2 hitter. If the Braves were able to trade a guy like Lowe for, let’s say…Mike Cameron and Josh Reddick, then they would have ample money to sign a big named free agent such as Jose Reyes to play SS, or trade for the likes of Grady Sizemore. Grady doesn’t project as an ideal leadoff hitter anymore due to a decreased walk rate, but Prado would be an ideal #2 behind Reyes.

Braves are a team that has been looking for a prototypical leadoff hitter since Furcal(2005). Prado is such a good hitter he could bat anywhere in the lineup and produce, but if there’s something he lacks it’s speed. He’s a smart baserunner, but his base stealing skills are pathetic. Just imagine adding a legit leadoff hitter to the Braves lineup like Jose Reyes a guy who has more than doubled Braves(as a team) steal total. Braves are 6 for 18, Reyes 14 for 17.

And before anybody say’s steals are overrated bla, bla, bla, they are helpful especially with a slumping offense. And one thing you can say for certain, Braves are a streaky offense, at least if they had speed they’d be able to use that weapon and get base runners on scoring position. They’d be able to put the pressure on opposing teams by scoring first, because leadoff hitters like Reyes have so much speed defense is bound to make a mistake and allow a run.

Two questions. What is Ken Rosenthal smoking and where can I get some? Who cares if Martin Prado isn’t the prototypical leadoff hitter, he’s been doing amazing there!!! He was just named NL player of the week!!! Like Micah Jones said above, don’t fix what’s not broken.

i think that has more to do with the roster than Prado’s “idealness” for the leadoff spot. I love him there, but it isn’t “prototypical”, he doesn’t take a lot of walks and isn’t speedy. I think what people are saying, since Prado gets so many hits, imagine how many of those would be rbis if someone got on in front of him then stole 2nd

Gonzo is playing very solid SS so cross out Reyes. All we Brave fans can hope for is a trade for Grady Sizemore. He just went on the DL again so maybe the Indians well part with him for cheap… Rodrigo Lopez is pitching good enough at AAA to draw alot of attention on the trade market.